Cheryl Schatz

Paula,

Mutilating the body of Christ is a very strong word picture that I’ll bet many people have never thought about, but in many instances this is what some people are in actuality doing.

Don,

The last word in the last verse of 1 Tim is y’all or you plural.

This phrase is a typical end blessing but it doesn’t imply that Paul is speaking to many people.  Paul says that same thing at the end of each of his letters to individuals including 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon.  It is kind of like saying, Grace be with you and yours.  When you see how Paul ends letters written to the church and not merely to individuals one has an opportunity to see that Paul ends these letters differently.  Paul ends 1 Corinthians with “My love be with all of you (plural)”

Paul ends 2 Corinthians with “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

Paul ends Galatians this way “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren (plural). Amen.”

Ephesians ends with “Peace be to the brethren…”

Philippians ends with a greeting to the plural “you” and the same goes for Colossians and 1 & 2 Thessalonians.  All of the letters to churches have either the words “you all” or several instances of the plural you.  The letters to individuals do not have the term “you all” or the plural “you” except for the colloquial greeting.

I do appreciate John MacArthur in his standing strong for the gospel, but I also have noticed his propensity to stretch his exegesis into what could only be labeled fictional story telling.  His classic story about why men were not to wear the head covering (taken from 1 Cor. 11) saying that it was forbidden because it would make men look like women just as if men today were wearing an Easter bonnet, is stretching a tale beyond credulity.  Also his statements that biblical women wore a head covering because it showed they were in submission to men is without historical evidence.  The head covering was worn for modesty not for submission and John MacArthur’s lack of historical facts for his assertions, I am afraid, do not represent him well as a reliable teacher.  While he may be really good in other areas, if he cannot be trusted because of his story telling, he will lose credibility because who will be able to trust him in areas that are not so easy to check the facts?